The Westminster baseball team's season came to a close after playing 27 innings with multiple rain delays on Saturday, May 9. The Blue Jays started the day with a 7-6 win over Webster University to head into the championship game of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament. They Blue Jays then shut out Greenville 11-0 in the championship game, bringing the tournament to the second "as necessary" game in conference history. The Greenville Panthers pulled out a 3-0 win in the "as necessary" game, sending them to their first NCAA Tournament in history. The Blue Jays' season came to a close with an overall record of 24-12.
Vs. Webster
Webster jumped on the board first with two runs scored in the bottom of the second. In the top of the third, the Blue Jays put up a run with a RBI single by junior Deion Hughes to score junior A.C. Long. The Blue Jays added three more runs in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. Sophomore Connor Hager singled up the middle to score two runs, and Hager scored on senior Cam Backes' at bat.
In the bottom of the inning, Webster took back the lead with three runs scored. They added another run in the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead.
In the eighth innning, the Blue Jays scored two runs to tie up the game with an error by Webster's shortstop. A RBI single down the left field line by Hughes brought in freshman Adam Mundle to take the 7-6 lead.
The Blue Jays held Webster to just one hit in the final two innings, knocking Webster out of the tournament and advancing them to the championship game.
Hager led the team with three hits and two RBI. Sophomore pitcher Jake Lund (2-2) grabbed the win on the mound after pitching two innings. Junior Collin Brinker earned his third save of the season after closing out the final inning.
First Championship Game Vs. Greenville
The Blue Jays got on the board first with a RBI single by Backes down the left line to plate Hager in the third inning. They added three more in the fourth with a Hager RBI single, a sophomore Tanner Branneky two RBI double, and a Backes RBI single.
The team plated two more runs in the fifth with RBI singled by freshman Nick Bohlmann and Hager and another in the eighth.
In the ninth, the Blue Jays added three more runs to take the 11-0 advantage. The Blue Jays stranded two on base for Greenville in the bottom of the ninth to take the 11-0 win. The win handed Greenville their first loss of the tournament, making the "as necessary" game mandatory.
Junior Jake Rule (3-1) pitched the complete game shutout win. He allowed just four hits while striking out five.
The Blue Jays outhit Greenville 15-4 with Mundle leading the pack with four hits. Hager, Bohlmann and Backes each had three hits.
"As Necessary" Game Vs. Greenville
Greenville got on the board first in the final game of the tournament with a RBI single in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, Backes doubled to right center with just one out, but two consecutive outs left him stranded in scoring position.
Greenville added two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings with RBI doubles, and the Blue Jays were unable to move into scoring position in the final innings, ending their tournament run.
The Blue Jays finished the 3-0 loss with five hits. Junior Tyler Branneky grabbed two hits from the plate.
Lund pitched his second game of the day and suffered the loss on the mound after pitching the first five innings. He struck out seven at the plate and allowed just one earned run. Junior Collin Brinker pitched the final three innings, struck out five and allowed one earned run.
Jake Rule, Nick Bohlmann and Connor Hager were each named to the SLIAC All-Tournament Team. Rule pitched nine innings in the championship game and grabbed the shutout win. Bohlmann finished the tournment with six hits and 14 putouts. Hager went 11-17 from the plate with a perfect 4-4 against Spalding. He plated six runs and brought in eight RBI throughout the tournament.
